Fireworks
by ramenrulz8P
Summary: This a modern AU where Noctis and Lightning meet at a party. "He could sense her jolt when she noticed his presence. 3 Noctis could feel her face him. 2 He turned away from the window and in her direction. 1"


Another firework exploded in the sky.

Ignis winced from the front seat of the convertible. "Couldn't they wait a few hours until it was actually New Years to start busting out the fireworks?" he complained, turning another corner before turning a corner.

Gladiolus rolled his eyes before responding, "Why do you have to be such a spoil sport?" He glanced over at Noctis who was staring at the fireworks intently. "At least Noct is enjoying himself for once."

The air in around the convertible grew thick and icy.

Everyone knew the past year had been horrible for Noctis.

His whole life had been a mess since the day he started dating Luna, the younger sister of Stella Nox Fleuret. Though even he didn't like to admit it, he was with the younger Fleuret just to get to the older one. Stella had been the one he'd had his sights set on since he was a little boy. But in the past year, much to his dismay, Luna found out and told Stella everything. Both sisters moved back to their home country and had promised him if he ever got near either of them again, he'd lose his head.

Then there was his father who was so busy with his underground dealings he hadn't spoken to his own son in over a year. Not to mention the work load had just grown for the young entrepreneur and he hardly got time to have fun, like tonight.

"Of course! Now that we're all together we can have some real fun!" Prompto exclaimed from the front seat turning around to get a good look at Noctis, who now wore a ghost of a smile.

After pulling into hotel's entrance, Ingis handed the car to the valet while the other three got out and straightened out their suits. All four headed inside the empty lobby which was still lit up in Christmas décor.

Thankfully the lobby and the rest of the venue had been rented out by the host of this event. Some rich business men named Katzroy and Estheim had booked the whole place out for a friend's wedding reception. Apparently Prompto had been invited to the reception and brought the others along as his plus three.

As soon as they stepped in, Prompto let out a low whistle. Clearly no expense had been spared. The whole place was decked out in gold, from the chandeliers to the table decorations. Even most of the guests had some sort of gold accent on their outfits. Which led the others to look at Prompto who was the only one out of the four that had gold accents on the collar of his white tux.

"Was there a certain dress code you didn't tell us about?" Ignis leaned over and whispered to Prompto who dug in his pocket.

"Do you really think I'd forget such an important detail?" he muttered as he produced items from his pocket. "Ah ha!" He opened his hands and showed the other three what he dug out; a gold watch, a gold broach, and a mask that covered half the wearer's face.

"For the rest of tonight, we don't know one another," Gladiolus said as he took the watch. The man headed out into the crowd to mingle with the ladies without a second glance at his friends.

Prompto pinned the broach on Ignis before he even had a chance to choose between the remaining two items. "You can thank me later," he whispered to Noctis, slipping the mask into his coat pocket before dragging Ignis to the bar.

Noctis who was suddenly alone, put on the mask and decided to find a comfortable place to spend the rest of this year. Grabbing a glass of champagne, he headed up the stairs to find an empty hallway decorated with pictures of a very muscular blonde haired man and a very tiny pink hair woman, who Noctis assumed were the bride and groom. Walking further down the hallway he found a small sitting area where he decided he'd spend the rest of the night.

Noctis couldn't recall how long he'd stood there before he could hear the voice of the announcer in the main square a few blocks away begin to count down.

10

The sound of heels clacking on the marble floors made Noctis tense up.

9

They sounded as if they were getting closer.

8

Soon he could make out the sounds of the ruffling of a dress

7

He became very much aware that there was someone standing next to him.

6

His peripherals caught pink hair. On no… the bride? But this lady was much too tall.

5

An exhausted sigh escaped her lips.

4

He could sense her jolt when she noticed his presence.

3

Noctis could feel her face him.

2

He turned away from the window and in her direction. He was relieved to note her red dress. She was most certainly not the bride, but definitely related.

1

They both looked each other in the eyes as the whole sky erupted with fireworks.

She was wearing a gold mask similar to his but he could still make out that she was extremely beautiful. It was odd how she had the features of a doll, but the expression of a warrior.

Her eyes were like glowing blue crystals that reflected each and every color of the fireworks which exploded all around them. He could see his own stunned face in her eyes. Then he noticed how her eyes were studying him as if she was confused.

"I apologize if I'm not supposed to be here," Noctis blurted out. How foolish of him to come up here without even knowing if he was allowed to be there or not.

The corner of her lips curled upward. "Don't worry about that. I'm guessing you're not a fan of crowds."

"But I am a fan of fireworks," he said, donning a smile.

Surprisingly, she smiled back. "You're a funny one, aren't you?"

Noctis's expression fell. Stella swirled back into his head. She'd said those exact words to him the first time they'd met.

The pinkette voice broke him out of his trance, "Something wrong?" She had one finely shaped eyebrow raised.

"It's nothing," he said as he tried to brush off all thoughts of Stella. "Besides I could ask you the same thing after you sighed like that."

The woman nodded. "You'd sigh too if your little sister who you practically raised married an oaf."

"So this is your sister's wedding?" Noctis mentally patted himself on the back for figuring out that they were in fact related.

She nodded, "My sister and her husband are fans of fireworks just like you."

"Then I'm sure he can't be all bad," he went on with her teasing.

"He's not bad. He's just an idiot," she snorted and laughing lightly to herself.

"Would you care to accompany me for a glass of champagne, Miss…uh…," Noctis realized he hadn't introduced himself yet. "How rude of me? My name is Noctis Caelum," he said extending a hand.

"Lightning. Lightning Farron," she answered back, amusement glinting in her eyes. She took his hand and shook it, sending sparks of electricity reminiscent of her name up and down Noctis's arm.

Noctis was pretty sure the fireworks had stopped by now but he could still hear them go off.

Seems like this was going to be an interesting New Year.


End file.
